BJA FY 2026 The Kevin and Avonte Program: Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance administers the Kevin and Avonte Program: Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities. The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, funding, and other resources supporting law enforcement, violent crime reduction, protection of children, services for crime victims, and other public safety challenges. This funding opportunity is authorized by Public Law 103-322, Section 240001, codified at 34 U.S.C. 12621, and is identified under Assistance Listing Number 16.015 and Grants.gov Opportunity Number O-BJA-2026-172697. The program supports public safety efforts intended to reduce deaths and injuries among individuals with forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, or developmental disabilities, including autism, who may wander from safe environments because of their condition. Funding may support law enforcement agencies, other public safety agencies, and health care agencies in implementing locative technologies that track missing individuals. Funding may also support these agencies and partnering nonprofit organizations in developing or operating programs that prevent wandering, increase safety for vulnerable individuals, and facilitate rescues. Program objectives include reducing wandering incidents and associated injuries, implementing tracking technology that enables safe recovery and produces a documented increase in successful rescue rates within six months of deployment, improving collaboration and training, and conducting public education and awareness activities for families, caregivers, teachers, and communities. The Bureau of Justice Assistance expects to make approximately 14 grants from total available funding of up to $2,105,869, with an anticipated award amount of up to $150,000. The expected award period is 36 months beginning October 1, 2026. The funding opportunity does not require cost sharing or matching funds. Project budgets must include only reasonable, allocable, and necessary costs that are allowable under the funding statute and agency requirements. Certain activities are outside program scope, including activities that violate or facilitate violations of applicable federal immigration law or applicable federal civil rights or nondiscrimination law. Certain legal services for removable aliens or aliens otherwise unlawfully present in the United States are also identified as unallowable, subject to the exceptions stated in the notice. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status other than institutions of higher education, health care agencies, and other units of local government. Eligible health care agencies include state, local, or tribal government-operated health departments, hospitals, and medical centers, as well as nonprofit health clinics, behavioral health providers, and Federally Qualified Health Centers working with the populations addressed by the program. Applicants may submit only one application. When two or more entities will carry out a project, only one may apply, with other project partners proposed as subrecipients. State or local government applicants must also submit the required certification by their chief executive officer or senior official. Tribal governments and educational organizations are not required to submit that certification. Application submission occurs in two required steps. Applicants first complete the SF-424 in Grants.gov by October 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The full application must then be submitted in JustGrants by October 12, 2026, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Required application components include the SF-424, Standard Applicant Information, Proposal Narrative, and Budget, plus the chief executive officer or senior official certification when applicable to a state or local government applicant. Other components include a proposal abstract, the Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire, Agency Funding Priorities Inventory, applicable budget and financial attachments, and applicable additional application components. Applicants proposing to use federal funds to apply tracking technology to a person must submit an informed consent form confirming that the beneficiary or legal guardian understands and voluntarily agrees to use of the tracking device. The Proposal Narrative must be double-spaced, use a standard 12-point font, have margins of at least one inch, have numbered pages, and not exceed 10 pages. Peer review scoring allocates 5 percent to Description of the Need, 15 percent to Project Goals and Objectives, 35 percent to Project Design and Implementation, 30 percent to Capabilities and Competencies, and 15 percent to the Budget. Applicants should provide specific community data concerning wandering incidents, explain relevant trends and urgency, establish measurable objectives, describe project activities and implementation responsibilities, demonstrate organizational and staff capacity, and connect requested costs to project goals and activities. The Office of Justice Programs may also give priority consideration to projects advancing specified agency funding priorities, although priority consideration does not guarantee funding. Recipients must submit regular performance reports describing progress toward program goals and objectives, and additional post-award reporting guidance will be provided to award recipients. The notice was released August 17, 2026. Applicants are instructed to begin SAM.gov registration or renewal by September 5, 2026, and no later than September 21, 2026, although this registration milestone is not a pre-application gating requirement. The Grants.gov submission deadline is October 5, 2026, and the final JustGrants deadline is October 12, 2026. The expected 36-month award period begins October 1, 2026. The source does not state that the opportunity recurs annually or on another regular schedule. Program questions may be directed to the OJP Response Center at OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov or 800-851-3420. Grants.gov technical assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726, and JustGrants technical assistance is available at JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175.

Prioritize Project Design and Implementation and Capabilities and Competencies because they account for 35 percent and 30 percent of the score respectively. Support the need statement with specific local data on wandering incidents, affected populations, injuries, fatalities, trends, and urgency. Use measurable objectives and explain how activities directly improve safety for people at risk of wandering and their caregivers. Clearly identify implementation activities, timing, staffing, beneficiaries, deliverables, and subrecipient roles. Demonstrate relevant organizational and staff experience. Ensure every budget cost is reasonable, allocable, necessary, clearly calculated, and connected to project goals and activities. Follow the 10-page narrative limit and required formatting because noncompliance may reduce the score or ranking. Applicants seeking priority consideration should identify the applicable priority and explain how the project advances it.